James V Trilogy

Opening with the catastrophe of Flodden in 1513, the James V Trilogy follows Scotland through the long minority, personal rule and final crisis of James V. A seventeen-month-old king becomes the prize of competing noble factions, while England, France, the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy all attempt to shape Scotland’s allegiance. David Lindsay and David Beaton emerge as persistent guides through a court governed by custody, patronage and intrigue.

As James escapes the domination of the Earl of Angus and assumes power, his energy, appetites and suspicion complicate the work of kingship. His marriages, search for an heir and increasingly dangerous relationship with Henry VIII carry the sequence towards renewed Anglo-Scottish war and the origins of the Rough Wooing. The trilogy combines the king’s turbulent personal development with the larger question of whether Scotland can preserve an independent policy under relentless domestic and foreign pressure.